Everything You Want
to Know About
CODEWA.

Donor trust is not taken lightly at CODEWA. Multiple independent safeguards are in place and documented in formal governance frameworks:

• Three-signatory bank account: All financial transactions require the signatures of at least two of three named signatories. No single person can move funds alone.
• Independent Board oversight: A seven-member Board governed by a formal Board Charter reviews all strategic and financial decisions. Board members serve voluntarily with no financial interest in CODEWA.
• Annual external audit: CODEWA's financial statements are independently audited by Bugula Auditors and Tax Consultants (NBAA Reg. PF 258). The 2025 audit received a clean, unqualified opinion.
• Conflict of Interest Policy: All Board members and staff complete a formal Conflict of Interest Declaration on appointment and annually thereafter. Any conflict is declared, recorded in minutes, and the affected person is excluded from the relevant decision.
• Risk Register: A formal Risk Management Framework identifies, assesses, and mitigates 19 organisational risks across seven categories, reviewed quarterly and reported to the Board.
• Whistleblowing protection: Any staff member, volunteer, or partner can report concerns anonymously without fear of retaliation.

In 2025, 82.7% of CODEWA's total expenditure went directly to programme delivery. This figure comes from independently audited accounts for the financial year ending December 2025, conducted by Bugula Auditors and Tax Consultants.

The remaining 17.3% covers the essential operational infrastructure that makes those programmes possible: field transport, staff coordination, financial management, and donor reporting. We keep overhead lean by design. Our team is small, locally based, and deeply committed.

We do not publish a single overhead percentage for individual campaigns because cost ratios vary by programme type. A mentorship seminar has different cost ratios than a health insurance fund. What we can tell you with certainty is that every line of expenditure is documented and every funder who requests a cost-per-beneficiary breakdown receives it within 48 hours.

CODEWA is governed by a seven-member independent Board of Directors, constituted under the CODEWA Board Charter and the NGO Act No. 24 of 2002. The Board meets a minimum of twice per year and all members serve voluntarily without financial compensation:

• Pierre Rialland (Board Chair, France/Spain), PhD in Economics, University of Essex; Economist and Policy Analyst at the European Commission. Provides strategic oversight and supports international fundraising.
• Shabani Kigumi (Vice Chair, Tanzania), community leader and local accountability anchor.
• Sadath A. Mwamsema (Secretary and Co-Founder, Tanzania), Executive Secretary of CODEWA. Attends Board in an operational capacity and recuses from decisions about his own remuneration.
• Marc Rialland (Board Member, France), Senior Advisor, programme advisory support.
• Marisol Perez (Board Member, Spain)
• Sophia Juma (Board Member, Tanzania)
• Jenipha Edephonce (Board Member, Tanzania)

Note: Pierre and Marc Rialland are father and son. This relationship is formally disclosed in CODEWA's Conflict of Interest Policy and in all grant applications. Both recuse themselves from any matter where their family relationship could create a conflict. The majority of Board seats (4 of 7) are held by Tanzania-based members, ensuring strong local accountability.

Yes. Child protection is the highest-priority risk category in CODEWA's formal Risk Management Framework. Any safeguarding concern is automatically treated as a Critical risk requiring immediate escalation, regardless of assessed likelihood. Our safeguarding measures include:

• A mandatory Safeguarding Code of Conduct signed by all staff, volunteers, and partners before any contact with beneficiaries
• A prohibition on unsupervised one-on-one contact between adults and children at all programme sites
• Background checks for all staff and long-term volunteers with direct child contact
• Annual safeguarding training for all team members
• A Designated Safeguard Lead (DSL) and Designated Safeguard Officer (DSO) with a dedicated response protocol
• An anonymous, confidential whistleblower reporting line with a no-retaliation policy
• A confidential incident database reviewed annually by the Board

Our Child Protection Policy, Safeguarding Policy, and Girls and Women Protection Policy are all available on request from our Reports page.

CODEWA operates a structured Monitoring and Evaluation Framework approved by the Board in February 2026. Every funded project follows a documented process from day one: a detailed work plan, approved budget, activity log, quarterly M&E reports, and a final evaluation report with verified outcome data against baseline.

Financial reports are submitted to funders on the agreed schedule. We maintain separate accounts for each funded project. CODEWA allocates 5 to 10% of every project budget to monitoring, evaluation, and learning. All data is maintained in a format that allows independent verification by external auditors or evaluators at any time.

We welcome funder site visits, third-party evaluations, and due diligence audits with no notice required. Transparency is not a burden for CODEWA. It is a standard we set for ourselves.

GDASH, the Girls' Digital Access and Skills Hub, is CODEWA's flagship digital skills and entrepreneurship programme for out-of-school girls and young mothers in Tabora Municipality. It is the sixth and newest of CODEWA's programme pillars.

Tanzania's law legally permits girls to return to school after giving birth. But the lived reality is different: stigma, bullying, and community pressure make re-entry practically impossible. Most leave within weeks of trying. GDASH is the second pathway the system never offered them.

Girls aged 15 to 24 train for four months in professional-grade AI tools, AI-assisted web coding, graphic design, and digital entrepreneurship. Every day begins with a Dignity Circle, a structured psychosocial session that rebuilds confidence and identity before technical training begins. A dedicated Childcare Corner ensures young mothers never have to choose between their child and their education.

Top graduates launch BRELA-registered Digital Service Kiosk businesses earning between 50,000 and 150,000 TZS per week. All graduates continue accessing the Hub through the Lab Residency programme. A revolving Alumni Fund progressively reduces grant dependency over time.

Yes, and we strongly prefer it. Programmes co-designed with partners are more sustainable, more relevant, and more measurable than off-the-shelf interventions. We have a proven track record of designing bespoke projects for corporate CSR partners, institutional funders, and research institutions.

The process begins with a 30-minute discovery call to understand your goals, budget, SDG priorities, and reporting requirements. We then develop a proposal within one week. Most partnerships are operational within 30 days of agreement. Contact our team via the Partner page to start the conversation.

Selection is data-driven and community-verified, never arbitrary. We assess communities based on school dropout rates, poverty indicators, healthcare access data, and infrastructure gaps. Communities with the highest dropout rates and fewest existing support systems are prioritised.

Before any programme begins, we consult with local school leadership, community elders, and parent groups to confirm need and secure community buy-in. Programmes imposed from outside without community ownership fail. Programmes designed with communities endure. Our 100% bicycle retention rate is evidence of this approach working.

A single CODEWA partnership simultaneously advances seven SDGs, making it one of the most SDG-efficient partnerships available to any corporate ESG programme or institutional funder in East Africa:

• SDG 3, Good Health and Wellbeing (Toto Afya health insurance, menstrual hygiene)
• SDG 4, Quality Education (school kits, scholarships, ECD, GDASH second-chance education)
• SDG 5, Gender Equality (Girls AI Hub, Keep Her in School, bicycle programme)
• SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth (AI skills, digital entrepreneurship, kiosk businesses)
• SDG 10, Reduced Inequalities (targeting highest-dropout communities)
• SDG 13, Climate Action (Climate Guardian Clubs, reforestation, solar-powered Hub)
• SDG 15, Life on Land (fruit tree planting, school gardens)

We use a structured Monitoring and Evaluation system with specific, verifiable metrics for each programme pillar. These are not estimates. They come from school records, community registers, and field monitoring visits cross-checked through quarterly spot-checks and beneficiary verification:

• 92% student transition rate to the next level of education
• 100% school retention rate among all bicycle beneficiaries
• 90% survival rate for all fruit trees planted by Climate Guardians
• 200,000+ youth reached through seminars and programmes since 2015
• +42% academic improvement documented among seminar participants
• 4 beneficiaries now in their second year of Bachelor's degrees
• 6 GDASH Cohort 1 graduates with verified digital skills certificates, May 2026

Annual reports are published on our Reports page. Funders can request programme-specific outcome data at any time.

Yes. CODEWA operates under a zero-tolerance policy toward fraud, corruption, and misuse of funds. This is documented in a formal framework enforced at every level of the organisation:

• An Accounting and Procurement Policy governs all financial transactions with competitive quotation thresholds and segregation of duties
• A three-signatory bank account system prevents any unilateral financial decision
• A Whistleblowing Policy provides a confidential reporting channel for any concerns
• An independent Board with no financial stake in CODEWA provides oversight
• Annual external audit by a registered, independent auditing firm provides independent verification

All governance policies are available on request from our Reports page.

You can donate securely online via our Donate page. All payments are processed by Stripe, the same payment processor used by Amazon, Shopify, and thousands of global charities. Stripe uses SSL encryption and your card details are never stored on our servers.

You will receive an automatic email confirmation immediately after your donation. We welcome gifts from anywhere in the world, in any amount, as one-time or monthly recurring donations.

Here is exactly what different gift levels achieve on the ground in Tabora:

• EUR 5 plants one fruit tree in a school garden, providing nutrition and teaching climate stewardship
• EUR 25 provides one year of community health insurance for one child via the Toto Afya Card
• EUR 100 covers a full school kit (uniform, shoes, bag, stationery) for one student for one year
• EUR 100 funds a Resilience Circle mentorship session reaching 20 to 30 young people
• EUR 155 provides a bicycle for one rural girl, eliminating a 2-hour daily walk and keeping her safely in school
• EUR 250 renovates one classroom section, creating a safe and dignified learning environment for 40 children
• EUR 500 sponsors one student through an academic year including all materials, health insurance, and mentorship

Yes. We have nine dedicated donation campaigns. Choose the one that resonates with you most:

• Zero Dropout Fund, school kits, bicycles, and scholarships to keep children in school
• The Health Shield, health insurance and medical support for vulnerable children
• Plant a Fruit Tree, climate action and school nutrition through reforestation
• The Resilience Circle, mentorship and confidence-building for youth at risk
• The Capability Fund, life skills and employability training for older youth
• The Girls AI Digital Hub (GDASH), AI and coding skills for out-of-school girls and young mothers
• Shields for Girls, bicycles for rural girls walking dangerous roads to school
• Igniting Early Literacy, classroom renovation and teacher training to give every child the foundations of reading
• General Fund, directed by our team to where the need is greatest right now

Yes. CODEWA is registered on Benevity, one of the world's largest corporate giving platforms used by thousands of companies globally to manage employee donations and employer matching programmes.

If your employer uses Benevity, you can search for Community Development Watch (CODEWA) on your company's giving portal and donate directly. Many employers match employee donations automatically, doubling or tripling the impact of your gift at no extra cost to you.

This is one of the most powerful ways to give to CODEWA. A EUR 50 donation matched by your employer becomes EUR 100 or more, funding a full year of health insurance for two children rather than one.

CODEWA is a registered Tanzanian NGO (Reg. No. 00NGO/R1/00579) and all donations are receipted in accordance with Tanzanian law. Tax deductibility depends on your country of residence and its treatment of donations to foreign nonprofits.

Donors based in France may benefit from giving through Association CODEWA France, our registered French sister organisation, which issues receipts under French law. Please contact info@codewatz.org for more information about giving through Association CODEWA France.

For donors in other countries, we recommend consulting your own tax adviser. We are happy to provide any documentation about CODEWA's registration and governance that your adviser may require.

Yes, and monthly donors are our most valuable supporters. A one-time gift funds a moment. A monthly gift funds a sustained change. A child who receives school supplies in October and health insurance in February, because of two separate monthly donors, stays in school through the full year. That continuity is what creates the 92% transition rate we are proud of.

Every donation form has a "make this monthly" option. You can cancel at any time with no penalty or questions asked. We will never pressure you to continue.

Yes to both. You will receive an automatic email confirmation immediately after your donation. If you need a formal donation receipt or acknowledgement letter for tax purposes, institutional compliance, or personal records, email us at info@codewatz.org with your donation details and we will issue a signed letter within 48 hours.

Yes. On the donation form you will find a "Dedicate this Donation" option where you can give in honour of or in memory of someone you love. A birthday, an anniversary, a tribute to someone who believed in education and fairness: your dedication will be noted and the gift will reach a child in Tabora in their name.

If you would like a personalised dedication card or message to share with the person being honoured, contact us at info@codewatz.org after donating.

Reach out through our Contact page or email info@codewatz.org with a brief introduction: your background, your skills, and how you would like to contribute. Our team will respond within 48 hours to discuss the best fit and next steps.

There is no lengthy application process. We move quickly when someone is ready to give their time, because every week of delay is a week a child goes without a mentor.

We welcome volunteers from any professional background. The roles most needed right now include:

• Inspiration Seminar facilitators, professionals or achievers from any field who can speak to students about overcoming obstacles and building a future
• Resilience Circle mentors, patient listeners who can guide monthly group sessions with at-risk youth
• Digital skills trainers, anyone with experience in AI tools, AI-assisted coding, or digital marketing who can support the Girls AI Digital Hub (GDASH)
• Health professionals, doctors, nurses, or health educators for community outreach
• Researchers and analysts, academics or data professionals who can support evidence generation
• Remote contributors, writers, designers, translators, and communicators working from anywhere

No. We have both field-based and fully remote volunteering options. Remote volunteers contribute through virtual mentorship sessions, content creation, research support, translation, and digital skills training. Geography is not a barrier to contributing meaningfully to the children of Tabora.

For field-based volunteers who do travel to Tabora, we provide a full programme briefing, community introduction, and dedicated staff support throughout your time with us. You will leave knowing the names of the children you served.

There is no fixed minimum. Some of our most impactful volunteers have given a single afternoon to lead one Inspiration Seminar. Others commit to monthly Resilience Circle sessions across a full academic year. We design every volunteering engagement around your availability, not the other way around.

What matters to us is not the number of hours but the quality of presence. A volunteer who shows up once and gives everything they have does more for a child than a distracted volunteer who attends twenty sessions.

Every CODEWA volunteer receives:

• A full programme briefing before their first engagement
• Direct support from our team throughout their involvement
• A formal letter of recognition upon completion, suitable for professional portfolios and LinkedIn profiles
• Access to CODEWA's annual impact reports to see the collective difference volunteers make

Field volunteers are welcomed by name by our staff and introduced personally to the community they will serve. We treat volunteer time as the genuine gift it is: not a resource to be managed, but a human connection to be honoured.